Test and Evaluation Lead

Location: 100% Remote preference will be given to local candidates in DC Metro


Active DoD Secret Clerance or Active Top Secret Clearance candidates

APEX EXCLUSIVE SDET LEAD OPPORTUNITY X3!!!
This is a senior-level, hands-on QA Automation leadership role for a candidate who can own enterprise testing strategy, drive automation excellence, and serve as the technical authority for quality across a large federal program. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise with Selenium automation frameworks, Cucumber/Gherkin, CI/CD and DevSecOps practices, while also leading and mentoring SDET teams. Experience supporting cloud-native and microservices-based applications, accessibility compliance, and Agile delivery environments will be highly valued. We are looking for strong, technically credible candidates who can help elevate testing maturity, improve release readiness, and ensure the delivery of high-quality mission-critical solutions.




Requirements
Bachelor's degree + 7 years experienced required

Manager Notes PLEASE READ

• Looking for a senior Test/QA Automation Lead who can own the testing strategy across the entire program.
• Needs to be very hands-on with test automation, especially Selenium Grid/WebDriver.
• Strong experience with Cucumber/Gherkin, Jasmine/Protractor, JUnit/TestNG, and GitHub/Bitbucket is important.
• Needs a solid programming/scripting background, not someone who has only managed testing teams.
• Should have experience designing and improving automation frameworks, including parallel testing, Selenium Grid, and scalable test environments.
• Will lead and mentor SDET engineers, set testing standards, and make sure teams are following automation and QA best practices.
• Needs experience building test plans, estimates, test strategies, and reporting around sprint and release schedules.
• Should understand ATDD and be comfortable working with Client and developers to turn acceptance criteria into effective test cases.
• Needs strong DevSecOps/CI/CD experience and an understanding of how automated testing fits into the development pipeline.
• Should be comfortable testing cloud-native, microservices-based applications, with performance testing and security scanning experience being strong nice-to-haves.
• Section 508/accessibility, UI/UX testing, databases, Agile/Scrum, and Jira experience are all important.
• Overall, they want someone who can be the technical authority for testing, work closely with Product Managers on release readiness, identify risks/gaps, and ensure applications are fully tested before they go into production.

Job Description
The Test and Evaluation Lead sets program-wide testing standards, leads SDET teams, and ensures all products are thoroughly evaluated prior to release. This role collaborates directly with Product Managers to confirm schedule readiness and alignment between test activities and release goals. As the senior authority on testing strategy, automation frameworks, and quality engineering, the Test and Evaluation Lead is accountable for ensuring delivery teams meet performance, compliance, accessibility, and reliability expectations across federal-mission applications.

The Opportunity
This role provides the technical leadership needed to shape test automation strategy, evolve enterprise testing frameworks, and guide SDET engineers through complex, distributed test scenarios. You will drive testing maturity across Agile programs ensuring that modernization, microservices, and cloud-native platforms are validated with rigor, precision, and strong DevSecOps
alignment. The Test and Evaluation Lead serves as the linchpin connecting quality engineering, development, compliance, accessibility, and release readiness.

Primary Responsibilities
Automation Strategy & Framework Leadership

• Design and develop automated test solutions using Selenium, Protractor, Jasmine, and Cucumber, ensuring modern frameworks support scalable applications.
• Improve automation frameworks for speed, reliability, and usability introducing parallel execution, optimized grid configuration, and test harness enhancements.

Test Planning, Estimation & Reporting

• Plan, estimate, and architect comprehensive test solutions that align with sprint goals, release timelines, and mission priorities.
• Establish and maintain test data management processes and generate detailed test reports consumed by leadership and engineering teams.

Quality Metrics, Processes & ATDD

• Define meaningful performance and quality metrics to measure product readiness and cross-team success.
• Enable Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD) through close collaboration with Business Analysts and developers ensuring acceptance criteria and test cases are aligned from the start.

Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Lead and mentor SDET engineers to strengthen technical capability and promote best practices in automation, accessibility, and usability.
• Work closely with Product Managers to confirm test schedules, validate readiness, and identify risks/gaps in release plans.
• Collaborate with development, UX, DevSecOps, and security teams to ensure testing fully covers functional, non-functional, and regulatory requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Strong programming or scripting background and a demonstrated passion for testing
• Bachelor's degree with 15+ years of experience.
• At least 10 years in test automation and 8 years in manual testing.
• Expertise in:
  • Selenium Grid or WebDriver
  • Protractor or Jasmine
  • Cucumber or Gherkin
  • JUnit or TestNG
  • GitHub or Bitbucket
• Experience with databases, Agile/Scrum, UI/UX best practices, 508 accessibility compliance, Jira, Serena, Client QC.
• Strong communication skills, with proven ability to collaborate across engineering, product, and leadership groups.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience leading SDET teams within federal cloud-modernization or enterprise software programs.
• Deep familiarity with DevSecOps practices and integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong understanding of performance testing, security scanning, and modern QA tooling ecosystems.